Recs if you like Lust for Life...

an introduction to various artistic traditions throughout europe and asia, as well as a general guide to getting started with art history. recommendations are very welcome, as always!

note: books are mostly grouped according to period/tradition, but there are inevitable outliers

Marilyn Monroe was known as an avid reader with a deep love of literature. She took literature courses at UCLA, married a playwright, and was (in?)famously photographed reading Ulysses in a park. It's said that her divorce to Arthur Miller stemmed from an incident in which he insulted her intelligence. Supposedly, she amassed a 1000+ book collection at the height of her reading that she was very proud of. Here are the books known to be a part of her beloved personal library.

Stories about artists, their work and the times that influenced them, from a fictional perspective.

interesting fictionalized novels about artists in history